Hot on the heels of their success in Operatsiya Bagration,
Soviet forces struck deep towards the Baltic coast, rapidly severing
communications between German Army Group North and what little was left of
Army Group Center. By early October 1944, the Soviets were in view of the
Baltic Sea, near the port of Memel, definitively cutting off Army Group North
from any retreat route through East Prussia. Despite Guderian's plea for an
evacuation by sea and subsequent redeployment in Central Europe where forces
were desperately needed to help stabilize an increasingly dicey situation,
Hitler stubbornly refused. Instead, he ordered the 200, 000+ German troops to
entrench themselves, in the hope of using the Courland Pocket as a springboard
for a future offensive. Little did the Fhrer realize that what he insisted on
calling a bridgehead (the Kurland-Brckenkopf) would only become a bridge to
oblivion for his haplessly trapped German divisions; They would go on to
resist six major battles before finally surrendering to Marshal Govorov on May
8, 1945. The majority of the 200, 000+ men of Army Group North would be marched
into Soviet prison camps to the East, most of them never to return. Set
Contains: The second instalment in our series of Memoir '44 Battle Maps
includes 2 Overlord scenarios, six Tiger Tanks and 2 bonus scenarios. This
Battle Map set also includes 2 Standard scenarios playable on a regular Memoir
'44 board and featuring the new Tiger tanks - Villers-Bocage and Wittmann's
last stand at St-Aignan-de-Cramesnil.